2026 APA/APF Awards

Award for Distinguished Contributions to Education and Training in Psychology

This award is given by the Board of Educational Affairs in recognition of the efforts of psychologists who have made distinguished contributions to education and training, who have produced imaginative innovations, or who have been involved in the developmental phases of programs in education and training in psychology. These contributions might include important research on education and training; the development of effective materials for instruction; the establishment of workshops, conferences, or networks of communication for education and training; achievements and leadership in administration that facilitate education and training; or activity in professional organizations that promote excellence.

Award winner

•  Richard Harris, PhD   

Award for Distinguished Contributions of Applications of Psychology to Education and Training  

This award is given by the Board of Educational Affairs to acknowledge psychologists who contribute to new teaching methods or solutions to learning problems through the use of research findings or evidence-based practices. Particular emphasis is placed on the use of psychological knowledge to improve learning in educational settings, including prekindergarten to Grade 12, or in communities.

Award winner

• Apryl Alexander, PsyD

Psi Chi/APA Edwin B. Newman Graduate Research Awardopens in new window

This award is given jointly by APA and Psi Chi for the best paper published or presented by a graduate student at the APA or Psi Chi convention or at any regional or state psychological association meeting held between January 1 and December 31 of the previous calendar year. For purposes of the award, research is broadly defined to include all forms of empirical psychology, such as experiments, correlational studies, historical studies, case histories, and evaluation studies.

Award winner

• Alireza Zareian Jahromi

⁠International

Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology

This award is given to individuals who have made sustained and enduring contributions to international cooperation and the advancement of knowledge in psychology.

Award winner

• Ashley K. Randall, PhD

International Humanitarian Award

This award recognizes extraordinary humanitarian services and activism by psychologists, including professional and volunteer work conducted primarily in the field with underserved populations. Award recipients are psychologists who, by their extraordinary service at a difficult time, improve the lives and contribute to the well-being of people in a large or small geographic area anywhere in the world.

Award winner

• Valentyna Petrenko, MA     

⁠Public Interest

Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest

This award recognizes persons who, in the opinion of the Committee on Psychology in the Public Interest Awards, have advanced psychology as a science and/or profession by a single extraordinary achievement or a lifetime of outstanding contributions in the public interest.

Award winner

• Edward A. Delgado-Romero, PhD 

⁠Science

Awards for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology

The Early Career Awards, given for the first time in 1974, recognize the large number of excellent young psychologists. Recipients of this award may not have held a doctoral degree for more than 9 years. For purposes of this award, psychology has been divided into 10 areas: animal learning and behavior, comparative; developmental; health; cognition/human learning; psychopathology; behavioral and cognitive neuroscience; perception/motor performance; social; applied research; and individual differences. Five areas are considered each year, with areas rotated in 2-year cycles.

Award winners

• Kauê Machado Costa, PhD (animal learning and behavior, comparative)
• Miriam K. Forbes, PhD (psychopathology)
• Julián Jara-Ettinger, PhD (cognition and human learning)
• Julia A. Leonard, PhD (developmental psychology)
• Ariel A. Williamson, PhD (health psychology)

Award for Distinguished Scientific Applications of Psychology

This award is presented to a person who, in the opinion of the Committee on Scientific Awards, has made distinguished theoretical or empirical advances leading to the understanding or amelioration of important practical problems.

Award winner

• Velma McBride Murry, PhD

Awards for Distinguished Scientific Contributions

These awards are presented to persons who, in the opinion of the Committee on Scientific Awards, have made distinguished theoretical or empirical contributions to basic research in psychology.

Award winners

• Stephen B. Manuck, PhD
• Nora S. Newcombe, PhD 
• Kenneth J. Sher, PhD